ISO 9001 Certification for Staffing Organization?

[RBaker]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post in the Cove, and I’m not sure if this is the correct area for this posting, but here goes...

I am spearheading a process documentation and process improvement effort within a segment of my organization. I've done some data mining to try to find organizations such my employer, who have attained ISO 9001 Certified status. I've found some who claim they have, but trying to access someone who was involved in the process has been a challenge. Most seem to have had an outside firm carry them through the certification process.

My challenge...The organization with which I am employed has several different product offerings such as IT Staffing, Creative Staffing, Software Solutions, Outsourcing, Healthcare Staffing, and others. Not all business units would be interested in pursuing Certification. Would it be possible to have one unit of a business become ISO or Six Sigma Certified, with out having all other areas included?

If any one has any information on how to approach this scenario, I would really appreciate the help.

~ Rich

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Hello Rich, and welcome to the Cove

Your post is definitely in the right place. As for your question: You and your registrar will have to agree on the scope of your certification, but yes, it has been done before.

However: If you do go ahead with certification, excluding part of your organization may cause more problems than it solves. Yes, you could save some effort, but you may also throw many benefits away. Ultimately, you have to decide, but don't you think it would be worth getting a complete certification while you're at it?

You may find the following old threads worth reading:
Implementing ISO 9001 in just one department of a brewery?
Is Certification possible? A department within an organisation

/Claes

 

[RBaker]

Thanks Claes.

I completely understand what you are saying about the benefits of having the whole organization become certified. I am still trying to build a case for us as an organization to move in that direction. I'm trying to figure out how we can implement a quality and process improvement plan that I can sell (figuratively) to other business units with in the organization. One challenge will be that one of the groups deals exclusively with creative services, and they may feel that putting so much process into what they do, could cramp the creative/free thought aspect of their business. I guess that could be alleviated by having looser guide lines for different areas? Maybe I just don't understand how to approach them with the concept. I see the benefit (in so many ways) and I don't want to give up before I really get started.

~ Rich